Andrew Thomas, director at HRT, and a qualified auctioneer, was the main auctioneer at the event, which took place in London.

Over 200 people attended the charity auction.

Chairman of the Rugby Football Union and ex-England Rugby Union team captain, Bill Beaumont, was guest speaker at the event.

Restart Africa aims to provide a home, education, care and counselling to homeless children in Kenya, and looks after more than 100 children in a new orphanage which was opened in 2014 by the charity’s founder Mary Coulson.

Mr Thomas said: “The Restart Africa charity auction was a fantastic event and it was incredible that we raised a staggering £40,000 for such a worthy charity. All guests were extremely generous and I’m sure the money raised will make a huge difference to the charity.

“I’m delighted that I was asked to be the auctioneer at the event as supporting charities is something that is very important to us all at HRT.”

Alex Gooch who co-organised the event with Andrew Locke, said: “We couldn’t have asked for a better auction and we were over the moon with everyone’s generosity. £40,000 will make a massive difference to people in Africa and we’d like to thank everyone for their support.

“We’d also like to thank Andrew Thomas for conducting the auction. His 30 years of experience being a qualified auctioneer really did show and it was one of the best auctions we’ve ever had.”

HRT supports many charities by sponsoring events such as Mair’s Walk in Bridgend, which raises money for Velindre, and hosting MacMillan Coffee Mornings.